A growing New Zealand persimmon supplier and exporter says it has been able to offset impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on international trade, by increasing the price, thanks to the exceptional quality of the fruit.
Cape Produce NZ is the exclusive marketer of all the hothouse persimmons from the country, and supplies two brands to the market; Holyoak and Bee Sweet. The season got underway this month, and Managing Director Andrew Douglas says most of the produce goes to Thailand, where the company has developed some strong partnerships.
"While volume has been low up to this point in the season, we are building into it, and this year the quality is the best we have seen," he said. "What makes us distinctive from the rest is that a lot of our hot house persimmons are grown in a very unique style. Not only is it grown in a hothouse, but it is also actually grown like a Bonsai within a bag in the soil. It really is high-precision horticulture. Our Brix at the moment is 21, meaning the eating quality and the flavour is amazing. The Holyoak brand has been around for 25 years, and it is well known throughout Asia for its high quality. I have just bought the brand from the grower, so it is exciting times ahead for Cape Produce."
The company is entirely export-focused, and Mr Douglas explains that hothouse growers are getting 95 per cent pack out, because it is so high precision and it is away from the elements of the weather. This provides an advantage of low fruit damage and being early to market.
"Also, COVID has almost been good to us, and I mean that because our fruit is beautiful, and as premium, as you can get," Mr Douglas said. "In a COVID shipping environment that has been a real challenge and we have had our freight rate quadrupled, as we like to ship it to the market by air. But we have actually managed to increase the price and return back to the grower. That is reflected by the demand and changing attitude towards the fruit - it is a healthy bit of fruit and from New Zealand, it has a good story to tell. I have never seen demand out of countries like Vietnam and other areas of SE Asia for our product "
Holyoak Persimmons are grown in the Waikato region and Bee Sweet Persimmons are from just north of Auckland, both in hothouse tunnels. The whole industry is around 400,000 trays and most of that is grown in the Gisborne region on the east coast of the North Island.
"Most of that is by two large growers, who are the cornerstone of the industry," Mr Douglas said. "At Cape Produce we are excited to be rolling out extra supply this year from the Gisborne region, so we are taking a significant shift of volumes into the market to allow us to service greater retail programs in both Southeast Asia and Australia. There are plenty of opportunities for a company like us that is focused on quality and good at what we do, and I expect to see year on year growth for the next couple of years and become one of the biggest players in the industry. We have lofty goals, but we need to first and foremost keep our quality up, and also partner with the right people. There is certainly growth within our industry and my company is growing. We are pretty small, not trying to take on the big boys, just passionate about what we do. We look for the same quality in the fruit as the people we work with."
Apart from Thailand, Cape Produce also supplies into Vietnam and Taiwan - with much smaller volumes going into Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Canada. Mr Douglas says just the fact the fruit is grown in New Zealand is a big driver in sales.
"It is a niche product for niche markets," he explained. "As an exporter of fresh produce, one of our biggest assets is the "Made in New Zealand" on the side of the box. With COVID, food sensitivity and where the food is coming from have become prevalent. We are in a good position with horticulture in NZ to offer a safe and well-renowned product. Yes, we might be more expensive, and challenges such as shipping costs will be with us for some time, but we offer the premium product and the Holyoak brand sells itself, as everyone knows it. In a successful brand, the fruit speaks for itself."
For more information
Andrew Douglas
Cape Produce NZ
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/capeproducenz